George W. Hart, Ph.D.

George W. Hart is a research professor at Stony Brook University
and an interdisciplinary sculptor, mathematician, computer
scientist, and educator. His geometric sculpture is
recognized around the world for its mathematical depth and
creative use of materials. He is a pioneer in using computer
technology and 3D printing in the
design and fabrication of sculpture. Examples of his artwork can
be seen at major universities, such as M.I.T., U.C. Berkeley, Duke
University, Princeton
University, and Stony
Brook University. He has received praise and awards in
numerous exhibitions, including a New York State Council for the
Arts Individual Artist's Award. He has been invited to lecture and
show his art across the country and around the globe. He loves
designing sculptures to be assembled by large groups of people,
such as this, this, this,
this, this or this.

Hart's publications center on
mathematical applications in sculpture and other fields. His
extensive online Encyclopedia
of Polyhedra provides a substantial reference, which
is used by students and researchers around the world. His
groundbreaking Multidimensional
Analysis text (Springer Verlag, 1995) gives fresh
insight into the structures of linear algebra. His Zome Geometry book
(Key Curriculum Press, 2001) takes the reader on a hands-on tour
of the structures possible in three-dimensional space, and is
designed to spark students' interest in geometry. He has been in
the process of slowly writing a book on the history of geometry in
art.

Hart's mathematical research centers on novel polyhedral
structures and algorithms for producing them. He has produced
algorithms for generating various new classes of polyhedra, which
he then presents to the world in sculptural forms. (In past work,
he developed methods for efficiently monitoring electrical loads,
on which he holds several patents.) He is the associate editor for
sculpture of the Journal
of Mathematics and the Arts. He is on the board of directors
of the Bridges
Organization, which runs the Bridges conferences on mathematical connections
in art, music, and science. He is director of the MoSAIC Project, which
brings weekend Math/Art festivals to university campuses. He
is active in developing Innovations
in Mathematics Education via the Arts.

Hart's educational activities reach students at all levels. He
has developed many original workshop activities which use
art-related ways to engage students in thinking mathemtically
about patterns, structure, and relationships. These include
constructions with paper, CDs, or other materials. He is known
for workshops he has led around the world constructing very large
models of four-dimensional polytopes (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4,
5), These extraordinary
activities expose participants to important conceptual ideas they
might never experience otherwise. His online teaching materials
have a significant impact on mathematics education and result in
an enormous amount of email contact to him from teachers and
students around the world. His alternative introductions to
mathematical topics are often effective for engaging students who
are not attracted to traditional mathematics teaching.

Hart is a co-founder of North America's only Museum of Mathematics. As chief of
content, he set the "Math is Cool!" tone of the museum and spent
five years designing original exhibits and workshop activities for
it.

Hart also designs intricate geometric
puzzles which provide deep challenges to assemble. Some of
these are best solved by a group of people working cooperatively.
They provide stimulating original exercises in visualization and
group communication.

Hart received a B.S. in Mathematics from MIT (1977), an
M.A. in Linguistics from Indiana University (1979), and a Ph.D. in
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT (1987).
He has worked at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory and MIT Energy
Laboratory as a computer scientist. He taught for eight years as a
professor at Columbia University, and briefly at Hofstra
University. After two years as a visiting scholar associated
with the computational geometry group in the Department of Applied
Mathematics and Statistics at Stony Brook, he was a research
professor in the Department of Computer Science at Stony Brook
2001-2010 and is again a research professor at Stony Brook
University starting in 2013, but now interdepartmentally in the
Engineering School. (In between he was off co-founding
MoMath.) He is the author of dozens of scholarly articles
and conference papers. His web site http://www.georgehart.com
illustrates the range of his work.

In all, George Hart has been kissed by Euclid and enjoys life as
a troubadour for geometry, finding creative ways to spread his
love for and knowledge of all things that embody a mathematical
aesthetic.